Gilmore Girls: 10 Ways Rory Got Worse & Worse

As one of the titular Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore is a character that viewers are meant to be rooting for from start to finish. When she is introduced, she has a great relationship with her mother, great friendships, and big dreams. As she manages to get into a private school, and then into Yale (and Harvard, and everywhere else!), fans want to be cheering her on.

However, over the course of the series and definitely in the revival (Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life), it becomes clear that Rory is far from the golden girl that she first seems. In fact, in many ways she is extremely frustrating, and just keeps getting worse and worse as time goes on.

10 Her Friendship With Lane

Rory and Lane are childhood best friends, but as time goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that Lane is a friend of convenience for Rory (and vice versa). When Rory goes to Chilton, Lane is lonely and bored, and even tried to talk to Rory about it because it got so bad. She also had to give Rory a stern talking to about her ditching Lane for Dean when they were dating. Later, when Rory was at Yale, she seemed to barely even talk to Lane – and Lane, for her part, tried to move into Rory’s dorm room! This was definitely a friendship that became increasingly hard to watch.

9 Became A Cheater

This is definitely something that fans consider one of Rory’s worst moments – when she and Dean sleep together, despite the fact that Dean is married to someone else! It causes a huge rift between Rory and Lorelai, but more than that, it shows that Rory’s judgment is just not what it used to be. No one expected Rory to become the girl that was ok with being part of infidelity, and it was a shame that this ended up being written into the show.

8 Never Learned To Handle Her Drink

While there’s nothing bad about Rory being a character who doesn’t drink that much – even in college – she never really learned how to drink appropriately. In the early seasons of the show, of course, Rory didn’t drink because she was underage, so it’s difficult to compare, but her behavior when she did drink got worse and worse.

From getting drunk and fooling around with Logan at her grandparent’s vow renewal to getting hammered on punch and ending up sobbing on the floor, to getting wasted on Spring Break and calling Dean, Rory struggles to find a way to drink responsibly when she does choose to. By the revival, it’s even worse – she gets drunk and has an accidental one night stand (with a Wookie!) that she immediately regrets. All in all, whether Rory wants to drink or not, she needs to figure out how to do it without doing regrettable things.

7 Gave Up On Her Dream

Fans can sympathize with this one a little bit – Rory was dealing with some major disappointment after Mitchum Huntzberger completely burst her bubble, but it was disappointing to see her give up on her dreams and Yale and move into her grandparents’ poorhouse. The Rory of the early seasons was utterly determined, and would never have taken a setback like this anywhere near as hard – and even in the revival, it seems that the one thing Rory really sticks to is giving up.

6 Turned Into A Snob

In the early seasons, Lorelai and Rory are living a very average life (with the exception of the TV-home that no one would afford in real life, of course). When Rory starts going to her grandparents’, she and Lorelai laugh over some of the more ridiculous rich trappings… but as the show continues, Rory seems to steer more and more into her snobbish side. Her time working for the DAR probably doesn’t help, but from Chilton to Yale, and from her local boyfriends to Logan, Rory starts to become more and more stuck up, and it’s a shame to see her losing touch with her ‘normal’ life.

5 She Mooches Off Her Family

Along with getting increasingly snobbish, Rory becomes increasingly spoilt throughout the show. Borrowing money to pay for school is one thing, and she is seen occasionally working punching cards in the dining hall, at the inn, or at the bookstore – but she doesn’t do anywhere near the amount of work she would need to for all the things she buys (especially Europe trips – plural – trips to Logan’s beach house, her impressive wardrobe and shopping trips, and more).

Sure, she says she’s broke – but she has a new car from her grandparents, amazing places to live, and always has new and fantastic clothes. There must be some mooching going on here somewhere, and it’s not a nice thought.

4 Doesn’t Appreciate Her Mother

Lorelai certainly had her faults, too, but Rory’s appreciation for her amazing mom seems to decline as the show progresses. Part of this is just growing up (and moving out) of course, but their falling out is ridiculous… and there are plenty of times where Rory lies to her, goes behind her back, or otherwise just treats her totally disrespectfully. For a pair that are meant to be incredibly close, and when Lorelai has worked so hard to give Rory an incredible life, it’s just not a great way for her character to develop.

3 Became A Terrible Journalist

A lot of fans hated Rory’s character changes in the revival, and this may be one of the biggest issues – after spending the entirety of Gilmore Girls working to become a journalist, it turns out, Rory isn’t that great at it. Fans wanted to see her succeed – or at least, fail through no fault of her own, and overcome that. Instead, she took multiple meetings without clear pitches, took a pitch she didn’t want and then completely fluffed the article, acts wildly unprofessionally, takes a newspaper job for free, and then thinks she is above a job at a bloggy website. Wow, Rory. Maybe Mitchum was right.

2 Going Behind Her Mother’s Back

Once again, the central relationship between Rory and Lorelai falls apart as the show goes on – and Rory starts being dishonest, hiding things, and even going behind her mother’s back to ask for her grandparents’ help. Repeatedly. While it may not be the most realistic show if these two just stayed perfect besties forever, it was a shame to see just how duplicitous Rory became as the show went on. By the time of the revival, she was having an extended affair with Logan for a LONG time without even telling Lorelai.

1 Dropping A Bombshell On Lorelai’s Wedding Day

Finally, another ‘gem’ from the revival that shows just how low Rory has fallen. Gilmore Girls: A Year In The Life ends with the shocking reveal that Rory is pregnant (prompting speculation about the possibility of another revival to come, when fans can learn who the father is!). It’s a fantastic end, until you consider that Rory is telling her mother this on her long-awaited wedding day. After all this time, Rory couldn’t find any other time to bring it up, effectively making her own mother’s wedding day about her. A fitting end for a character who just kept going downhill.

About The Author

Rose Graceling-Moore
(1516 Articles Published)

Rose Graceling-Moore has been writing about film, TV and comics since 2013, when she began writing for a local print magazine in Vancouver, BC. Since then, Rose has written for Horror Honeys, Moviepilot and Quirkbooks as well as Screenrant, increasingly focusing on comic books and live-action comic adaptations, as well as diversity and representation on screen. Rose also co-hosted the DC Movies Podcast, and has guested on other nerd and entertainment podcasts over the past five years.

Rose’s love of comics began all the way back in the early ‘90s, when she discovered the X-Men while living in Africa (where there wasn’t a whole lot to do but read!), and since then has had an on-again, off-again love affair with not just Marvel, but DC and indie comics as well. You can follow her on Twitter: RoseMooreWrites for tweets about comics, movies, and more.

More From Rose Graceling-Moore